Press Quotes Skatepark

A skate park onstage, with local skaters testing out the ramps; then Ingvartsen’s dancers — a team from her hometown, Brussels — arrive on set. An increasingly complex choreography unfolds to a soundtrack selected by her participants. This is social practice as social choreography, mixing up high and low, and managing to center the (outnumbered) women skaters. Its indelible aesthetic aftereffect persisted for days: the sensation of flow, the smoothness of wheels, the relentlessly circling loops.

– Claire Bishop (Artforum)

 

It is not an easy exercise, bringing skating into the theatre. Makers quickly force such a subculture into something too polished, causing it to lose its soul. Choreographer Mette Ingvartsen deftly avoids that risk. Skatepark feels very authentic, at no point do you wonder who the skaters and who the three professional dancers are. … Ingvartsen lets the fun and rebellion of skate culture explode in the theatre auditorium. This energy bomb proves it: punx not dead! 

– Charlotte De Somviele (De Standaard)

 

Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen’s latest performance breathes anarchy and freedom. Skateboarders, line-skaters, dancers and musicians of all ages occupy the space with great respect for each other. Even when grim clowning casts a dark light on the skate ramp, togetherness remains intact. Skatepark is a peerless performance with a hopeful message. Ingvartsen’s oeuvre takes a surprising new direction and in this work, too, the body is ‘political’.

– Moos van den Broek (Theaterkrant.nl)

 

Ingvartsen is a master of the unobtrusive mise-en-scène that relies heavily on the performers’ sensitivity. Always new images emerge organically, and always the performance maintains a tension that is astonishingly light, and open. And so an organised freedom emerges, where giving each other space is a necessity and which doesn’t create restrictions but pleasure.

– Han van Wieringen (De Groene Amsterdammer)

 

Skatepark is a beautiful, exciting and accessible performance.

– Joris Henquet (de Volkskrant)

 

With a discipline like skateboarding, the performance could have easily focused on virtuosity, as the obsessive repetition of tricks does indeed embody a pursuit of excellence. However, Skatepark has not become a spectacular sports show but rather an exploration of a community in search of connection. The ‘group’ extends beyond the core performers, as Ingvartsen consistently strives to ground her international creations locally. At each venue, she engages with the local skate community and invites them to provide the prelude to the performance. As the audience fills the auditorium, these locals are given the opportunity to showcase their skills on the ramp on stage – they too are part of the exercise in togetherness.

– Evelyne Coussens (De Morgen)

 

Mette Ingvartsen has succeeded in creating a setting in which these young artists can truly express themselves, without instrumentalising either their presence or their virtuosity.

– Belinda Mathieu (Sceneweb.fr)

 

The effect is striking, with these rituals of sliding, these ephemeral trances, these bodies beyond gravity. Skatepark fascinates with its quasi-documentary depiction of a possible community.

– Philippe Noisette (Les Inrockuptibles)

 

Again and again, there are attempts to bring “high culture” and “popular culture” together, to bring music or practices of pop culture onto the stage. Rarely has this succeeded as magnificently as in Mette Ingvartsen’s cleverly staged performance Skatepark.

– Edith Wolf Perez (Tanz.at)

 

Skatepark is a wonderful piece about dance. Gliding like a dream, overcoming gravity to achieve fluidity. Balances, foot coordinations, jumps, repetition – magic unfolds when two synchronize in rolling. The action is visibly joyful and occasional stumbling or falling is simply part of it. 

– Melanie Suchy (Tanz)

 

Skatepark is an experience unlike other performances: circus and dance, music and acrobacy, but at the same time a remarkable sociological portrait of our times.

– Pieter ‘t Jonck (Pzazz)

 

Skatepark is a constant ballet in motion, an energetic performance embodying the rebellious spirit and cohesion of youth.

– Léa Dornier (L’Echo)

 

That’s Skatepark: music, tempo, intoxication of all the senses, trials and errors, mutual aid, and strength. A show that glides through the zeitgeist, between urbanity, sisterhood, complicity, and urgency.

– Isabelle Plumhans (Le Vif)

 

In an authentic skatepark setting, Mette Ingvarsten directs a group of skaters, hip-hoppers, musicians and other dancers. Within this close-knit group, playful banter, teasing and filming create an atmosphere of remarkable camaraderie, fostering a genuine sense of community. The performance avoids technical displays, providing everyone the chance to express themselves and immersing the audience in its distinctive world. It’s a production that is both peculiar and exuberant, fostering a convivial spirit while also mirroring the concerns and inquiries of the youth.

– Jean-Marie Wynants (Le Soir)

Unity, attentive interaction and collaboration saturate the essence of this Skatepark and its unending dynamism, brimming with unexpected moments amidst the whirlwind of rapid pace and captivating scenes. Balancing fluidity and rough edges, precise composition and spontaneous elements, the show champions both expertise and communal support. The incorporation of theater, evoked through the mask, addresses society in the making.

– Marie Baudet (La Libre Belgique)

By bringing skaters to the theater, Ingvartsen opens up reflections on a community where individualism and the collective seem to coexist, where you receive encouraging applause even when you fall, where competition remains playful and healthy, the body is celebrated, hierarchy is absent and a certain sense of freedom appears to prevail. Those who find themselves captivated by this performance may also harbor a touch of envy.

– Michaël Bellon (BRUZZ)